A Ghost Town Rising from the Waters
In the vast, windswept plains of Argentina's Pampas, about 500 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires, lies the eerie remains of Villa Epecuén. Once a thriving lakeside resort town, it was swallowed whole by a flood in 1985, its buildings, streets, and memories submerged beneath 10 meters of water for over 25 years. Then, in a twist almost too strange to believe, the waters receded, revealing a haunting, half-drowned world - trees growing through the roofs of hotels, rusted cars emerging from the mud, and the skeletal remains of a town that time, and the lake, forgot.
Villa Epecuén is not just a ruin. It is a time capsule of abandonment and resilience, a place where nature and decay have woven a surreal landscape that feels like stepping into a dream or a nightmare. Today, it is one of the world's most fascinating ghost towns, a destination for urban explorers, photographers, and those drawn to the macabre beauty of places left behind.
The Rise of Villa Epecuén: From Desert Oasis to Tourist Paradise
A Town Born from a Miracle
Villa Epecuén was founded in the 1920s as a spa town, built around the healing properties of Lago Epecuén's saltwater. The lake's mineral-rich waters were said to cure everything from rheumatism to skin diseases, and soon, the town became a booming resort destination. By the 1970s, it was home to 5,000 permanent residents and attracted 25,000 tourists each summer.
The town was a postcard of mid-century charm. Art Deco hotels lined the lakeshore. Thermal baths and spas promised rejuvenation. Casinos and dance halls buzzed with music and laughter. A railway station connected it to Buenos Aires, bringing wealthy porteños for weekend getaways.
Villa Epecuén was Argentina's answer to the French Riviera, a place where the elite came to relax, heal, and indulge in the good life.
The Golden Age: A Playground for the Rich and Famous
In its heyday, Villa Epecuén was a glamorous escape. Celebrities, politicians, and wealthy families flocked to its shores. The town had a grand hotel with a ballroom where tango orchestras played, a yacht club where the rich sailed on the lake's salty waters, a cinema that showed the latest Hollywood films, and a church where society weddings were held.
But beneath the glamour, there were warning signs. The lake's water levels were rising, slowly but surely. Engineers dismissed the threat, assuming the town was safe. They were tragically wrong.
The Flood: The Day the Lake Swallowed a Town
November 10, 1985: The Disaster
On a stormy night in November 1985, the unthinkable happened. After days of heavy rain, the dam holding back Lago Epecuén collapsed. Water surged into the town, submerging it in hours.
Residents fled in panic, leaving behind everything - furniture, photographs, cars, even pets. Within days, Villa Epecuén was gone, buried beneath 10 meters of water. Only the tops of a few buildings peeked above the surface, like tombstones marking a drowned world.
The Argentine government declared the town uninhabitable. The railway was dismantled, the roads erased from maps, and Villa Epecuén became a ghost story, a cautionary tale of nature's power.
The Town Beneath the Waves
For 25 years, Villa Epecuén remained underwater. Divers explored its eerie ruins - hotels with fish swimming through lobbies, cars rusting in the depths, streets lined with the skeletons of trees. The town became a legend, a place that existed only in memories and photographs.
Then, in the early 2000s, something unexpected happened. The waters began to recede.
The Reemergence: A Town Returned from the Dead
The Waters Retreat
By 2009, the lake had almost entirely drained, revealing Villa Epecuén's ruins. What emerged was a surreal landscape. Buildings stood half-collapsed, their facades peeling away. Cars rusted in the streets, their interiors filled with silt. Trees grew through the roofs of hotels. Furniture lay scattered, covered in a thick layer of salt.
The town was not dead - it was preserved, frozen in the moment of its drowning. Photographers and urban explorers flocked to the site, capturing images of a post-apocalyptic world where nature and decay had intertwined.
The Man Who Never Left
Amid the ruins, one figure became a symbol of Villa Epecuén's resilience: Pablo Novak, the town's last resident. While everyone else fled in 1985, Novak refused to leave. He moved into a shack on the lakeshore and lived there alone for decades, tending to his garden and fishing in the lake.
When the waters receded, Novak returned to his old home, a crumbling house where he still lives today. Now in his 80s, he is the town's unofficial caretaker, a living link to its past. He gives tours to visitors, sharing stories of the town's glory days and its tragic end.
"This was paradise," he often says, gesturing to the ruins. "And one day, it will be again."
The Science Behind the Flood: Why Did It Happen?
A Perfect Storm of Neglect and Nature
The flooding of Villa Epecuén was not just an act of God - it was the result of human error and environmental neglect.
- Rising Water Levels: For years, the lake's water levels had been creeping upward, but officials ignored the warnings.
- Poor Infrastructure: The dam that held back the lake was old and poorly maintained.
- Heavy Rains: In November 1985, unusually heavy rainfall overwhelmed the dam.
- No Evacuation Plan: When the dam broke, there was no warning system in place. Residents had minutes to flee.
The disaster was preventable, but by the time anyone realized the danger, it was too late.
The Lake's Mysterious Recession
Just as mysteriously as the waters rose, they began to recede in the 2000s. Scientists attribute this to:
- Climate change altering rainfall patterns.
- Erosion widening the lake's outlet.
- Natural cycles of water levels in the region.
Whatever the cause, the result was the reemergence of a ghost town, a place that had been lost to time.
Villa Epecuén Today: A Surreal Landscape of Ruin and Renewal
A Photographer's Paradise
Today, Villa Epecuén is one of the most photographed ghost towns in the world. Its haunting beauty lies in the contrast between decay and nature. Hotels stand with their roofs caved in, vines snaking through broken windows. Cars sit rusted in the streets, their interiors filled with mud and salt. The old railway station is a skeletal reminder of the town's connection to the outside world. The church, once a place of weddings and baptisms, now stands roofless, its pews covered in salt crystals.
The town is not abandoned - it is reclaimed. Trees grow where streets once were, and the wind carries the sound of nothing but silence.
A Destination for Dark Tourists
Villa Epecuén has become a mecca for dark tourism, drawing visitors who come to witness the eerie beauty of decay. Guided tours take explorers through the ruins, telling stories of the town's past and its tragic end.
Some visitors leave offerings - flowers, notes, even toys - on the doorsteps of ruined homes, as if paying respects to the town's lost soul.
The Legends and Mysteries of Villa Epecuén
Ghost Stories and Local Lore
Like all ghost towns, Villa Epecuén has its legends:
- The Crying Woman: Some claim to hear a woman weeping near the old church, said to be the ghost of a bride who drowned on her wedding day.
- The Phantom Train: Locals swear they've heard the whistle of a train in the dead of night, though the tracks were removed decades ago.
- The Lost Children: Stories tell of children who vanished in the flood, their laughter still echoing in the empty streets.
Whether these stories are true or not, they add to the town's haunting allure.
The Curse of the Lake
Some believe Lago Epecuén is cursed. The lake's name comes from the Mapuche word for "eternal salt," and locals say its waters have always been unlucky. Before the flood, fishermen told tales of drownings and disappearances. After the flood, some claimed the lake refused to give up its dead, that the bodies of those who drowned were never found.
The Future of Villa Epecuén: Can a Ghost Town Be Reborn?
Plans for Revival
In recent years, there have been talk of reviving Villa Epecuén. Some envision it as:
- An eco-tourism destination, with guided walks and a museum.
- A retreat for artists and writers, drawn to its surreal beauty.
- A memorial park, honoring the town's lost history.
But for now, Villa Epecuén remains a place frozen in time, a testament to nature's power and human resilience.
Pablo Novak's Dream
Pablo Novak still dreams of the town's rebirth. He imagines:
- Restored hotels where tourists can stay.
- A new thermal spa using the lake's healing waters.
- A railway reconnecting Villa Epecuén to the world.
"One day," he says, "this will all come back."
Why Villa Epecuén Haunts the Imagination
Villa Epecuén is more than a ruined town. It is a symbol of fragility and survival, a place where human ambition and nature's power collided with tragic results. Its story is a warning of how quickly a paradise can be lost, and how strangely it can return.
For those who visit, Villa Epecuén is not just a ghost town. It is a mirror, reflecting our own fears of abandonment, of being forgotten by time. And yet, in its ruins, there is hope - the stubborn trees growing through concrete, the old man who refuses to leave, the slow, steady return of life to a place that was once dead.
In the end, Villa Epecuén is not a tale of destruction, but of resurrection. A town that drowned, but refused to die.
References
- Clarke, P. (2012). Ghost Towns of the World. Carroll & Graf.
- BBC Travel. (2018). The Argentine Town That Drowned and Reappeared. bbc.com
- The Guardian. (2017). Villa Epecuén: The Drowned Town That Came Back to Life. theguardian.com
- Atlas Obscura. (2019). Villa Epecuén: Argentina's Haunting Ghost Town. atlasobscura.com
- National Geographic. (2020). The Eerie Beauty of Abandoned Places. nationalgeographic.com
- The New York Times. (2016). In Argentina, a Ghost Town Rises from the Waters. nytimes.com
- La Nación. (2021). Villa Epecuén: The Town That Refuses to Die. lanacion.com.ar
